The Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) Rugby Club wants to compete against US rugby teams in New York in November and is asking for your help to do!
We will train and play against three American rugby teams in New York, and will work on various rugby charity coaching events.
Rugby and the military go hand in hand. They both involve physical fitness, strong team and determination. Players and supporters of our rugby team come from a wide range of ranks across the RAFP.
As we move forward on a new and exciting era for RAF Police rugby, with a dedicated and hard working band of committee, members and supporters, we are asking for the support of our community and local businesses to assist in making this journey a great one!
During years of conflict, members of the RAFP have spent many months on frontline duties.
They have covered the Security of Camp Bastion and Special Investigations. They have working as Weapons Intelligence specialists, exploiting forensic evidence, been cyber security close support to infantry on the front line, and worked with specialist dog search capabilities and in many other Intelligence gathering roles.
UK-based employment has also continued as we police the RAF, with some high-profile investigations hitting the UK media and the increasing cyber security threat to the UK and its interests.
Our rugby team therefore adds extreme value to the players lives.
As a club, we feel that it would be a great opportunity to travel to the USA. As a Police Force we have strong links with the US, be it deployments to the country to fulfil various tasks or working alongside the US Marine Corps and US Military Police in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
High-profile fixtures will take place against the NYPD, Columbia University and the New York 7s, which offers exposure to over 240 teams, as well as spectators.
We also have a number of RFU qualified coaches among our members, who would take the lead on coaching clinics held by the RAFP in the New York Metropolitan area – this is in conjunction with a New York-based Rugby for Kids Charity, as well as a number of local Rugby Clubs.
As you can imagine, this trip is very expensive for us and in order to make the coaching clinics as effective as possible, and meet our charitable and playing goals, we have set up this sports crowdfunding campaign on PledgeSports
We appreciate all the help you can give!